The Hightower Report

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Bush Talks Loudly, Carries Small Stick

Wow, Little George really told off the Enroners and WorldComers, didn't he? He went up to Wall Street, got all scowly-faced ... and scolded those bad boys!

"The business pages of American newspapers," he declared, "should not read like a scandal sheet." But he didn't just talk, by golly, he whapped 'em! To yank this rampaging, corrupt corporate system back into line, he said he's going to appoint a "Corporate Fraud Task Force." Wow, that'll show 'em!

I didn't know whether to laugh, scream, or go bowling. This is political posturing at its most embarrassing. Why does he think the honchos of Enron, WorldCom, and all the rest have felt free to be such grasping greedheads? Because for more than 20 years, Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and now the second Bush have enthusiastically pushed to dismantle all protections that stockholders, workers, retirees, and taxpayers need against the corporate wrongdoing George now so loudly decries.

Where was his ethical outrage in 1990, when he personally engaged in this very same kind of self-serving hanky panky as an insider at Harken Energy Inc.? Where was his disgust with the Ken Lays in 2000 when Bush was pocketing more corporate campaign donations than any candidate in history? Where was his zeal to "root out corruption" last year, when he tried to eliminate 57 regulatory positions at the SEC and appointed an industry lapdog to head this corporate-oversight agency?

George talked big, but his proposals for action are a joke. He says he's doubling the jail term for corporate crime from five to 10 years -- but none of these crooks ever get five years, so this is meaningless. And even his little task force is being buried deep inside the Justice Department, where it'll be toothless.

George's speech was ballyhooed by his handlers as a Teddy Roosevelt moment for him -- but as one senator noted, it was more of a "teddy bear" moment.

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The Congressman Gets a Loan

There's chuzpah ... and then there's Big Honking Bull-Goose Chutzpah.

Jim Moran has the Bull Goose variety. What a guy! A Congress critter from Alexandria, Va., Moran touts himself as a financially conservative, pro-business Democrat. But, based on some of his own monetary messes, you might not want him touching your financials.

The Washington Post reports that about four years ago, Jim had fallen $700,000 into personal debt, was playing hide-and-seek with two dozen credit card companies, and was sinking financially. But, suddenly, out of the darkness, here came a lifeboat to his rescue! It was MBNA, the nation's largest credit-card issuer, waving a $450,000 loan at him and offering to consolidate his debts at a much lower interest rate.

Now, I've had an MBNA credit card in the past, and I don't recall them being particularly compassionate toward delinquent borrowers, much less tossing out generous terms on six-figure loans to people with poor credit ratings. Maybe they just liked ol' Jim, or maybe he was a smooth talker.

Maybe. Or maybe he was a lawmaker who, at this time, just happened to be supporting a bill that MBNA was lobbying hard to pass. Ironically, the bill was one that would make it much tougher for consumers who fall behind on their credit-card debt to get a fresh start by declaring bankruptcy. To heap stink on stink, only four days after Moran's MBNA loan was cleared, he became the lead Democratic sponsor of an even tougher bill to help financial giants like MBNA crack down on ordinary consumers.

Of course, both the company and the congressman say there was no hanky-panky here. "It never occurred to me to see any connection" between the bill and the loan, Moran now tells us.

Is he ethically blind ... or does he just think we're blind? An MBNA PR flack says, "We thought this was a good business deal."

Jim Hightower is a speaker and author. To subscribe to his monthly newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown, call toll free 866/271-4900. To order his books or schedule him for a speech, visit www.jimhightower.com.